Mercy is Irrelevant
by Charles McCoy
Summary: A private propulsion experiment leads the Borg to discover the Federation a century earlier than it is supposed to. How will the Federation deal with this new foe who is relentless, shows no fear, and views Mercy as...irrelevant.


Prologue

**Stardate 4152262.5.49  
Spatial Grid 579  
Delta Quadrant**

In the darkness of space, a single vessel went about its business undeterred. It was a fairly utilitarian ship, being built in the shape of a sphere. Lights flickered on and off all across the ship as it went through the region, its purpose a simple one. To find species and technology that would better the Collective.

The Borg vessel, designation Sphere SV-09167, had finished another scan of a sector of space that was unknown to the Collective. Thus far, it had encountered nothing that was worth assimilating, and if a Borg drone could express itself, a great deal of them would have expressed boredom.

_Scanning concluded. Spatial Grid 579 possesses seven systems. Four contain humanoid lifeforms. Species 334, 335, 337, and 340 have been added to the Collective memory. No species in this grid are worthy of assimilation. Requesting new directive._

The Borg ship was just receiving new directives from the hive mind, to proceed to Spatial Grid 491 to aid in the assimilation of the Species 627, who called themselves the Lortha, when it detected an anomaly at the edge of its long range sensors. While Borg were not explorers, anything that could potentially bring the Collective closer to perfection was worth investigating.

As it drew near to the anomaly, it was quickly realized that it was not an anomaly, but something artificial.

_Sensors detect a trans-warp aperture forming in Spatial Grid 580 at coordinates 5-7 point 9. Likelihood of advanced species, 87%. Assimilation priority 21%. _

The collective processed the information, and within seconds a response was sent back.

"_Proceed to coordinates. Determine technological and biological capabilities. Assimilate unidentified species."_

The Sphere processed its new directives, offering the only response it could.

_We will comply._

**SS New Frontier  
Edge of Federation space**

Jordan Davis leaned back in his chair as he stared out the viewport, watching an asteroid from the nearby belt slowly spin by. He slowly bit on the piece of straw in his mouth as he lost himself in the depths of space. It was almost like he was in a trance as he stared outwards, but a crashing sound and a loud "OW!" brought him back.

Turning a bit, he called out "Hey Cheng, you okay back there?" his answer was a string of curses in Chinese coming from the engine compartment. A moment later, Cheng Wu strode into the cockpit, wiping sweat from his hands and nursing a small bruise on his forehead.

"Oh sure, I just had a tool box fall on my head, nothing to worry about." Jordan harrumphed at the sarcasm dripping out of his partner's voice before turning back to the viewport. Cheng shook his head and took the seat next to Jordan, his hands moving over the console before he had set down.

He glanced at Jordan for a moment before asking "Are you going to just sit there and chew on that thing the whole time, or are you going to actually do something?" Jordan snorted as he pulled the straw out and said "Hey, you know all I'm good at is flying. You're the brains of this experiment. I just do the driving."

It was Cheng's turn to snort, but he left it at that. Jordan may not have been willing to admit it, but the project wouldn't have reached this point if not for him. Jordan was a genius at physics and warp theory, and without all his equations and calculations, the Wu-Davis Trans-warp Project would still be stuck back on Earth, gathering dust, rather than ready to be tested on the edge of Federation space.

Cheng's part in the project was the actual construction (and maintenance) of the Trans-warp engine. It was why he had a bruise on his forehead, as he had been making the final checks on the engine before they went through with the field test.

"Well Jordan, ready to make history?" Jordan took a moment to chew on the straw, before a wide smiled stretched across his face.

"You damn well bet I am!" He went from leaning his feet on the console to sitting up, his fingers flying across the controls as he began getting everything ready. "Everything reads okay. Cheng, would you care to do the honors?"

Cheng smiled and flipped the switch. Power coursed through the ship as it drew the power necessary to power the engine. Jordan checked the scanners and said "Aperture's stable, engines at full power. Engaging Trans-warp."

The _New Frontier_ sliced through space, heading straight for the aperture. As they drew near, the aperture opened up, showing a glowing green vortex. The Trans-warp tunnel. Jordan took the ship to warp and they flew into the vortex.

"30 seconds to exit point…structural integrity field is holding…Trans-warp engine is stable…" Cheng said, his whole body tense. Jordan put his full focus into navigating the ship, allowing his instincts to take over.

As Cheng counted out the last seconds, Jordan dropped out of the aperture, pulling the ship out of the Trans-warp tunnel, bringing the _New Frontier_ back into normal space.

The cabin was quiet for about ten seconds before Jordan let out a whoop of joy, jumping out of his seat and pumping his fist into the air. "We did it Cheng! WE DID IT!"

Cheng was more than willing to join in Jordan's celebrations, but something on the console drew his attention. While Jordan started doing a small jig, Cheng took a look at the scanners. Frowning, he turned to Jordan and asked "Hey Jordan, I think you'd better see this…"

Jordan stopped for a moment and came over and took a look. After looking at the console for a moment, he was frowning.

"Now hang on, I double checked those calculations. We were only supposed to go five hundred light years. How can we be three thousand light years from Federation space?"

Cheng shook his head as he got up and pulled a tricorder from the tool-box. "Maybe it was a fluctuation in the power coils…" As Cheng went into the back to examine the engine, Jordan started double checking the calculations. However, he had only gotten through a fifth of them when the proximity alert went off.

The alert startled both of them, although it only hurt Cheng as the tool box fell on his stomach this time. Jordan wasn't paying attention to Cheng's cursing as he looked at the read out of the vessel. It wasn't anything he'd ever seen before, and it wasn't showing up in any Federation databse.

"Hey Cheng, you gotta come see this…" He heard Cheng grumble a bit, but after a second or two he came back into the cabin. He was putting the tricorder away when the comm. panel lit up.

"Hey, their hailing us-" Jordan was cut off before he continued, and they both grew still as they heard the same thing that millions had heard before them. It would also be the last thing they heard.

"_We are the Borg. Lower your shields and prepare to be assimilated. We will add our biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to serve as us._

_Resistance is Futile."_


End file.
